19 October/20 October 2019 ★ FTWeekend 7A dish at the Duo Gastro BarTravel
W
hen the clouds of
steam parted, Natasha
emerged with a hand-
ful of birch twigs.
“Ready?” she asked. I
stretched out on the slatted bench.
It is midwinter in St Petersburg. The
nights have drawn in, the canals are fro-
zen and the statues are mantled with
snow. At the Winter Palace, frost has
patternedthewindows,whilethegolden
dome of St Isaac’s Cathedral shimmers
against a white sky. In the mornings,
after a fresh fall of snow, I watch from
my hotel window as a dark calligraphy
of pathways is slowly etched by pedes-
trians across the snowy expanse of the
squaresandpublicgardens.
And somewhere beyond theouter-
most suburbs, on the edge of a frozen
lake, I am stripped down to the basics
for one ofRussia’s winter rituals, the
banya hot steam room, birch twigs to—
stimulate circulation, a plunge in a fro-
zen lake. “I love winter,” Natasha was
saying, as she started thrashing my
shoulders.“Itmakesmefeelsoalive.”
WinterbecomesStPetersburg.Thisis
the city ofCrime and Punishment nda
Anna Karenina, where everyone looks
fabulous in furs and rosy cheeks. Down
Nevsky Prospekt, winds from the Gulf
of Finland chase flurries of snow, while
the fat globes of street lamps blossom in
the early dark, and the windows of the
shops glow invitingly. Across town,
beyond the Moyka canal,crowds hurry
towards the Mariinsky Theatre, where
Nijinsky and Nureyev both performed,
to catch the latest production ofThe
Nutcracker. At the Grand Hotel Europe,
the doorman stamps the snow from his
boots and opens the doors for a party
arriving for dinner beneath the stained-
glass windows of the dining hall where a
string quartetplays Tchaikovsky and
where Rasputin used to slobber over his
foodinfrontofhisaristocraticlovers.
For all its Dostoyevskian slums, St
Petersburg was always a city of aristo-
crats, cultured, indulgent, wayward,
more than a little demented. When
Peter the Great founded the city at the
beginning of the 18th century, noble
families from all over Russia hurried
to build grand residences in his new
capital. Three centuries on, after a
turbulent history of assassinations,
coups, revolutions, civil war, the world’s
longest and deadliest military siege, anda couple of decades of cowboy capital-
ism,StPetersburgisrediscoveringitself.
Russian aristocrats may be thin on the
ground but culture is central to St
Petersburg again, along with a happy
dash of the demented. Nowhere is ever
quite so cool as a city entirely at ease in
itsownskin.
InAn Unfinished Woman(1969) Amer-
ican playwright Lillian Hellman called
St Petersburg “a silent, lonely beauty”,
isolated from Moscow and the rest of
Russia. But St Petersburg was never just
a city. It was an idea, a longing, a desire
for sophistication, a chance to turn its
back on a creaky Asian empire and look
westwards, where the express trains
were arriving from Paris with the latest
fashionsinliberalismandhats.
Opulent, magnificent and radiating
outwards from the spire of the Admi-
ralty in elegant symmetries of stone and
water, the city remains one of the most
beautiful in Europe. It boasts the archi-
tecture of grandeur — neoclassical acad-
emieswith hushed figuresat their desks
beneathchandeliers,stateinstitutionsof
sweepingstaircasesandgildedassembly
halls, famous theatres, ornate libraries,
gilded churches and perhaps the world’s
greatest museum, the astonishing Her-
mitage, withmore than a million exhib-
its,fromPharaonicEgypttoKandinsky.
Palaces form the framework of the
city. They number almost 200, forming
a collection almost as bewildering as the
Hermitage. Imagine all thestately
homes of England assembled in a single
city, within walking distance of one
another. In St Petersburg, the noble
familiesofRussiawerenext-doorneigh-
bours, inhabiting an aristocratic ghetto
in residences that would make Clarence
Houselooklikeasuburbanbungalow.
Each one is crammed with stories and
ghosts. In the Winter Palace, home to
the tsars, I made my way through gildedthrone rooms andvast ballrooms to the
apartments where Catherine the Great
entertained herlovers. In the Yusupov
Palace, I searched out the Turkish room
where its last occupant, Prince Felix,
assassin of Rasputin, loved to recline in
hismother’sfrocks.
On the other side of the frozen River
Neva, not far from the Peter and Paul
Fortress, where many of theRomanov
dynasty lie entombed, I stumbled into
the office of Lenin in the Art Nouveau
Kshesinskaya Palace, now remade as
the wonderful Museum of Political His-
tory. At the desk by the window Lenin
wrote the speeches that would delude
both himself and the Russian populace.
Before becoming the Bolsheviks’ head-
quarters, the palace had been home to
the great ballerina and lover of the last
tsar,MathildaKshesinskaya.
Across town, in the Shuvalov Palace, I
popped in to see one of the world’s
greatest collection of jewels. In 2004,
the oligarch Viktor Vekselberg spent
more than $100m on nine Fabergé eggs
held in foreign collections, to bring
them home to Russia. Once presented
every year by the tsars to members of
the family, they are now the star exhib-
itsintheFabergéMuseum.
Fabergéeggsweregiftsforpeoplewho
really did have everything. It took the
jeweller’s workshops a year to make
one. Each was unique; and each held
surprises, secret catches to open unex-
pected interiors of tiny mechanical
parts — birds that sing, miniature por-
traitsthatunfold.TheCoronationEggof
1897, latticed with gold eagles and stud-
ded with diamonds, opens to reveal a
miniature carriage, a eplica of the goldr
carriage that bore the tsar and his wife
to their coronation, with crystal win-
dows and silver tyres. Perfect in every
detail, this tiny jewelled creation is lessi/D E TA I L S
Stanley Stewart was a guest of the Belmond
Grand Hotel Europe (belmond.com). It offers a
three-night “cultural heritage” package including
a guided tour of the Hermitage and either the
Peterhof, Pavlovsk or Pushkin palace, plus tickets
to opera at the Mikhailovsky Theatre, one dinner
and airport transfers, from £628 per person. For
more on the city seevisit-petersburg.ruthanfourincheslong.
The return of the eggs from foreign
collectionsissymbolicofStPetersburg’s
renaissance. Immediately after the fall
of communism, post-Soviet Russia — at
least for those who emerged with hard
currency — seemed devoted to cheap
glamour and bling, aping a west that
barely exists outside of the casinos of
Las Vegas. Even elegant St Petersburg
had restaurants with strobe lights and
waitressestotteringonkillerheels.
But while Moscow may still harbour
pockets of oligarch chic, St Petersburg
has got over this brief hiccup of bad
taste,focusingonitsowntraditions,ona
newappreciationofRussiancultureand
art. The Erarta Galleries of Contempo-
rary Art have transformed a Stalin-era
office block into one of the city’s most
exciting spaces, full of vibrant under-
ground art from the late Soviet period,
and exciting new work by post-Soviet
artists. The Mariinsky Theatre, all gilt
and red velvet and 19th-century cur-
tained boxes, has expanded into a stun-
ning new theatre next door, known as
the Second Stage, whose illuminatedcoloured mansions were clustered
around a courtyard,with dank stair-
wells leading up to long graffitied pas-
sageways. In this unpromising laby-
rinth, acreative pop-up world has taken
root. Open any door and you fall into a
colourful interior among young people
excited by entrepreneurial opportunity.
There are yoga studios and dance clubs,
tattoo parlours and jewellery makers,
fashion boutiques and vegan bistros,
photo studios and water-pipe bars, art
labsandhipsterbarbers.
Kazbegi, a Georgian restaurant, has
recently opened on the ground floor,
while Treska hosts a programme of lec-
tures and poetry readings over dinner.
My favourite haunt, all shabby chic
irony, was the Doris Day café, in two
sprawlingroomsofaformeraristocratic
apartment. I sat near the fire in a cosy
armchair that might have been pur-
loined from the Winter Palace, enjoying
coffee and freshly made cheesecake
while watching the snow outside cir-
clingdownoutofafathomlesssky.
St Petersburg’s restaurant scene is
emblematic of the city’s creative confi-
dence. From Rubinstein Street, dubbed
“Restaurant Row”, to the outdoor pave-
mentsofVasilyevskyIsland,stylishbars
and restaurants are popping up across
the city. And almost all — aside from a
couple of Asian fusion stars — are pas-HelsinkiMoscowRigaVilniusTallinnSt PetersburgRUSSIA
ESTONIALATVIABELARUSFINLANDmaps4news.com/©HERE kmFrom top: The Church of
the Saviour on Spilled
Blood; the Lilies of the
Valley Fabergé egg (1898);
cooling off in the snow
after a hot banya session
Getty Images; AlamyLeft: the ice rink in St
Petersburg’s New HollandRight: the Winter Palace,
home to the Hermitage
Museum
Universal Images via GettyWHERE TO EAT
BirchLaunched in late 2017, Birch is a
joint project of four partner chefs — and
at least one great designer. I love its mix
of industrial(cement floors,workshop
lighting) with natural materials (birch-
wood tables nd wall panels of bircha
poles, evoking Russian forests). Go for
the tuna ceviche with nectarines, tomato
and yuzu dotted with basil oil. Charming
service and serious food.Main courses
from Rbs490 (about £6).Kirochnaya
ulitsa 3;birchrest.comAziaThe best of the city’s new Asian
fusion restaurants. And s tylish too, with
lots of warm blond wood,reclaimed
metal and handmade brick tiles — plus
open kitchens framed by walls of spice
jars. It also boasts an enviable location,
on the corner of Nevsky Prospekt and
Mikhaylovskaya Street,tucked inside the
Belmond Grand Hotel Europe, but the
real star is the food, from Tibetan
dumplings todim sum andsushi.Main
courses from about Rbs1,000 (£12);
Mikhaylovskaya ulitsa 1/7;belmond.comHamlet & JacksWith exposed brick
walls, stone floors and tables of salvaged
wood, Hamlet & Jacks offers a menu
divided into two parts: “Ours”, using
Russian ingredients, and “Ours+Theirs”,
mixing Russian and global influences.
Upcoming young chef Evgeny Vikentev
creates dishes that surprise and inspire. I
loved the Rostov duck breast with a
pumpkin, black garlic and tangerine
sauce (Rbs760/£9.30).Volynsky
pereulok 2;hamletandjacks.comDuo Gastro Bar mall, funky andS
friendly, Duo comes with an open
kitchen, a retro vibe and a fashionable
young clientele. Award-winning chef
Dmitry Blinov has created a menu
equally at ease with Russian traditions
and international dishes. Go for the pork
belly with apple and wasabi.Mains from
Rbs490 (£6). Kirochnaya ulitsa 8b;
duobar.ru/enDuo Asia me people, but a wholeSa
other thing — Asian cuisine, a sleek
modern grey and black look, and a menu
that manages to swing fromkimchi to
poke to sushi without putting a foot
wrong. ishes from Rbs390 (£4.75);D
ulitsa Rubinsteina 20.duoasia.ru/enZoom omfy, cosy and family-friendly,C
this café-restaurant has games and
cuddly toys for children and a cool jazz
soundtrack for adults. Come for
smoothies, cakes, seriously creative
breakfasts, duck gnocchi and perch
polenta.Mains from Rbs380 (£4.60).
Gorokhovaya St 22;cafezoom.ru/engWHERE TO STAY
Belmond Grand Hotel Europe
Inextricably linked to the history of the
city, the Grand has seen them all, from
Rasputin to Michelle Obama, from
Tchaikovsky to Elton John. First opened
as a hotel in 1875, it maintains the feel of
19th-century hotel grandeur, albeit
elegantly refurbished for the 21st.The
ground-floor cocktail bar — all woodand leather with a stunning alabaster
bar façade — has a seductive clubby
feel while the L’Europe restaurant is one
of the city’s most theatrical settings,
with a string quartet and opera singers
in the evenings.Doubles from £146;
belmond.comFour Seasons Lion Palace Hotel ithW
this stunning restoration ofa former
royal palace near the Admiralty, Four
Seasons has brought new life to one of
the city’s grandest properties. Its vast
courtyard has been covered and turned
into an elegant palm court for afternoon
tea or cocktails.Doubles from £205;
fourseasons.com/stpetersburgAstoria nother heritage property, theA
Astoria enjoys great views of the Neva
and St Isaac’s. During the 900-day Siege
of Leningrad, Hitler was so confident of
victory that he printed invitations to a
triumphal banquet at the Astoria. Old
world, atmospheric, and as labyrinthine
as a Tolstoy novel.Doubles from £184;
roccofortehotels.comA St Petersburg address book
The winter city
Russia St Petersburg is in the throes of|
a revival, with hip new venues alongside
historic gilded palaces — and it looks even
better in the snow. ByStanley Stewart
sionate about Russian traditions, giving
their native cuisine an imaginative con-
temporarytwist.
Out at the bathhouse, when Natasha
had finished thrashing my back and
thighs with thevenik, the bundle of leafy
birchbranches,Imadethe20-yarddash
alongasnowypathtojumpintothelake
through a hole cut in the ice. This is a
great Petersburg tradition — Peter the
Great’s favourite moment of the day —
and still a rite of passagethrough the
coldest winters for ice bathers who love
the exhilarating, heart-stopping,
adrenalin-rushing plunge into the
freezingNeva.
Back in the bathhouse, next to a pot-
bellied wood-burning stove in a cosy
anteroom, Natasha had laid out tradi-
tional bathhouse snacks, old-fashioned
Russian fare — cold cuts, hard-boiled
eggs, a potato salad garnished with half
a pound of dill, some oily slivers of fish,
slabsofdarkbread,shotsofvodka.
Natasha reminisced about Soviet
times,which evoke nostalgia for a sur-
prising number of people. Few want to
resurrect communism but they can
grow a bit teary-eyed about the full
employment, the free education and
healthcare,thesecurity.
“In those years, Peter never changed,”
Natasha said, as if the city were a per-
son; “Peter” has long been a nickname
for the city — even when it was Lenin-
grad. The city was always the same.“
NothingchangedintheSoviettimes.”
She topped up my shot glass. Vodka
and thebanyahad made me pink as a
lobster. “But now,” she went on, “it is
constant change. New things are hap-
pening. Art, theatre, restaurants, old
palaces finding new lives. Peter is
becomingitselfagain.”onyx “cocoon” wall glows like a golden
dream. I saw a new production ofThe
Nutcracker bold, exciting, innovative,—
and a reminder that the Mariinsky is
still the world’s greatest ballet company.
Meanwhile regeneration schemes are
transforming New Holland, Peter the
Great’soldshipbuildingyards.Itsindus-
trial buildings — the Foundry, the circu-
lar Bottle House, the Commandant’s
House — are being remade as commer-
cial premises, boutiques, restaurants,
galleries nd performance spaces, all seta
in cleverly landscaped parks and play-
grounds. In winter, this is the venue for
St Petersburg’s premier outdoor skating
rink, where you can expect to be
reminded that many Russians learn to
skatebeforetheycanwalk.
But Petersburg is not just about grand
projectsdriven by state funding and
international design competitions.This
is a city that spawned some of the most
exciting club life in Europe, and is still a
byword for street culture. On the Fon-
tanka mbankment, I discovered theE
Golitsyn Loft, which had more surprises
thanaFabergéegg.Acollectionofsepia-The bar at the Grand Hotel EuropeOCTOBER 19 2019 Section:Weekend Time: 10/201917/ - 17:41 User:paul.gould Page Name:WKD7, Part,Page,Edition:WKD, 7, 1